Run Down

The Next Day

Discharged with no injuries. And thank god because if Roland was hurt too he wouldn't know how to live with himself. They were at home now, huddled up on the sofa watching Cars, a bowl of microwave popcorn sat between them.

"Papa?" Roland looked across suddenly with wide eyes, his hand draped over the edge of the bowl as if half way through reaching for another handful of the sweet snack he had a thought. Robin dropped a hand into his unruly curls, encouraging him to continue. "Is that lady from the road okay?"

Robin's heart clenched in his chest, his hand stilling from the slow movements in Roland's hair. He took a deep breath, "Well, she has a nasty cut on her head," He lowered his fingers and traced a line where her injury was. "But yes, thankfully she's alright."

Roland nodded, seemed content with the answer and finally grabbed his popcorn, turning his attention back to the coloured cars on the screen. "I'm going to see her later today," Robin began and Roland looked over again, nodding at his father, "would you like to come too? I'm sure she'd enjoy your company."

Roland clapped his little hands together in front of his face, bouncing and nodding, exclaiming an unnecessarily loud "okay!" but Robin laughed and offered his hand to Roland for a high-five.

---

Morning arrived all too soon for Regina as she draped an arm across her face, desperately trying to block out the light filtering through the blinds of her room. She briefly forgot where she was, disorientated and drowsy from sleep, but then the machines beeped and the wires protruding from her wrists brushed against her arms and the pounding ache returned to her skull; she was in the hospital. Still.

Breakfast was served, or something that apparently passed for breakfast around here - a stale piece of bread with questionable bacon rashers is not something Regina would regard as nutritious - and she waited. She wasn't sure what she was waiting for, but there was nothing else to do. She should have asked Emma to bring her a book or a newspaper or even one of those awful gossip magazines Emma loved so much.

The hours from breakfast to lunch came and went, barely a single check up from a nurse in between. Her headache was passing and Regina didn't understand why she could just leave already. And that's when they walked through the door, her saving graces.

"Hi again." Robin held onto a bunch of flowers, an array of deep pinks, purples and oranges, all different types of flowers tied neatly under a bow of ribbon. "How are you feeling?" Regina blinked once, twice, her mouth dropping open slightly as she fumbled for what to say. "We can go if you want?" He said, clearly wary of her silence.

"No, no it's fine. Thank you for coming, it's just..." She paused and Robin dropped the flowers into the empty vase on the side table. "No ones ever bought me flowers before."

"Now that I don't believe." He said, smiling as he slumped into the chair next to her. She smiled, a small thing, as she looked from Robin to the flowers.

"Roland, are you going to say hello?" Regina saw him then, the little boy so small his head didn't even reach the bed. She hadn't noticed him he'd been so quiet and to be quite honest, she'd been in awe of the flowers and than man who brought them; a plane could have crashed into her room and she wouldn't have noticed.

"Hi," it was a small sound, accompanied by a bashful dropping of the head that made Regina chuckle.

"Hey little man, who are you?"

"I'm Roland. Sorry my daddy hit you with his car." That's the thing about children; they're always brutally honest. Robin pulled Roland onto his knee and apologised himself again, but Regina brushed it off.

"It's fine," she said to Robin, then turned her attention back to Roland as she asked, "are you okay?"

"Well, daddy made us leave before Card was finished!" He said with an air of exasperation beyond his years. "But that's okay because we're checking on you." His smile was bright, a pair of dimples breaking out to match his fathers.

"I'm very grateful." Regina nodded and smiled back, "The flowers are beautiful."

"I helped pick 'em!" Roland bounced on Robin's knee and he gazed down at his son, and Regina felt her heart break because how perfect it must be to have a parent that actually cares about you.

Regina sighed, making Robin look up at her and then the door swung open, revealing Emma still looking down at her phone and rambling as she entered.

"Hey so if you're out by this weekend  Mary Margaret's having--" Emma looked up from texting mid-sentence and saw Robin and Roland, both looking between each other and her. "Hi."

"Good morning." Emma smirked. Not only was he drop dead gorgeous, he was British. If it wasn't for Killian sat at home, she might well have jumped him herself.

"You must be the runner-over-er?" She said and Regina said her name sharply, to which she shrugged.

"Unfortunately yes." He said, and Emma laughed. Robin furrowed his brow, surely this wasn't funny?

"Well at least you're hot." She said, making everyone in the room turn slightly red.